Family Therapy As Socially Transformative Practice: Practical Strategies

This thorough review of social justice in family therapy guides practitioners to incorporate concepts of equity and fairness in their work. Expanding on the relationships between larger social contexts and individuals’ family functioning, it offers practical strategies for talking with families about power disparities, injustice, and respect, and for empowering clients inside and outside the therapy room. Case studies and discussions with therapists illustrate how family challenges are commonly exacerbated outside the home, and the potential for this understanding to help clients work toward positive change while improving therapists’ professional development. The book’s accessible, solution-focused approach shows small therapeutic steps changing families, communities, and clinical practice for the better.

Included in the coverage:

• Family therapy + social justice + daily practices = transforming therapy.
  
• Researcher as practitioner: practitioner as researcher.
• Learning to speak social justice talk in family therapy.
• Supporting the development of novice therapists.
• Everyday solution-focused recursion: when family therapy faculty, supervisors, researchers, students, and clients play well together.
• Family therapy stories: stretching customary family therapy practices.

At once down-to-earth and inspiring, Family Therapy as Socially Transformative Practice is a must read for those interested in family therapy and family-centered practices and policies.

Sally St. George PhD, RMFT, is an Associate Professor and Director of the MSW Clinical Specialization in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary, and a Family Therapist and Clinical Supervisor at the Calgary Family Therapy Centre. Practicing marriage and family therapy for the last 20 years, she is dedicated to creating and utilizing social constructionist principles in her teaching, research, and clinical practice. Sally is internationally known for her publications and presentations that contain a focus on integrating across micro and macro practices as well as across research and clinical/therapeutic practice. In addition, Sally serves on the Boards of Directors for the Taos Institute and Global Partnership for Transformative Social Work both dedicated to living and expanding the practice of social constructionism. She is also the Senior Editor of The Qualitative Report, an open-access online interdisciplinary journal which is committed to creating a learning community of writers and reviewers to present solid, interesting, and novel works of qualitative inquiry. Sally’s favorite leisure activity is ballroom dancing and her favorite partner is Dan Wulff.

Dan Wulff PhD, RMFT, RSW, is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary and a Family Therapist and Clinical Supervisor at the Calgary Family Therapy Centre. His research and practice efforts center on an integrative practice of social work and family therapy. Dan also serves on the Boards of Directors for the Taos Institute and Global Partnership for Transformative Social Work as well as serving as a Co-Editor of The Qualitative Report.